


Keith Doesn't Have Time for Ghosts

by aeruh



Series: Being a Solitary Witch in Space Isn't Easy [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Keith is a witch, Keith is bad at incantations, Shiro is mentioned, and loves the idea of a witchy Keith, because the author is also a witch, set sometime during season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-21
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2019-01-20 22:41:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12443343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeruh/pseuds/aeruh
Summary: The Castle of Lions is haunted again, for real this time.Thankfully, Keith is a witch and knows how to deal with it.Unfortunately, he's theonlyone who knows how to deal with it.





	Keith Doesn't Have Time for Ghosts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Forest_of_bread](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Forest_of_bread/gifts).



There it was again.

Keith was _absolutely_ sure he saw it this time; a dark shadow of a person, tall and featureless. Just for a half a second from the corner of his eye before it vanished again.

The fear that most people might have expected to feel after seeing a spirit was long gone. Keith was more than used to catching glimpses of… something when he was alone in the desert, late at night with only the static of an old radio for company. The Shadow Person back home that seemed to like clinging to him never did any harm, and so he did his thing and the spirit was mostly left to its own devices. 

Keith suspected it was mostly due to the large amounts of energy he was accumulating in his tiny home; research told him that quartz was an excellent healing crystal. An amplifier, of sorts. He found plenty in the crumbly dirt outside when he went looking for the mysterious source of energy that ended up being the Blue Lion. 

After learning how quartz helped, he kept every specimen he could find. They littered every surface. Along with other crystals, of course. But quartz was what he had the most of. Partially because it was so easy to find, but also because he was usually on a very, very tight budget and food was more important than rocks. 

So when the Shadow Person started popping up regularly in the cabin, Keith wasn’t surprised and let it stay. So long as it didn’t mess with anything.

This new spirit roaming the Castle of Lions, on the other hand, was not the same Shadow Person. For one, Keith wasn't an idiot. Spirits were usually stuck to a single location, unless it was one of those rare times where they liked to follow one specific person around. But that wasn’t the case with Keith’s own shadowy pal back home. 

Second, it was only recently that this new resident began showing up. Keith had gone months since he last saw his faceless friend in the desert, and he certainly wasn’t expecting to find another one in the middle of quiznaking space.

Keith fiddled with the onyx pendulum hanging from a chain around his neck. So far the new spirit hadn’t done anything malicious, and he wasn’t too concerned. Regardless of the reason, as long as it kept to itself Keith didn’t see any reason in getting rid of it. 

So he shrugged and made his way to the hangar to see Black for some bonding time. Or attempted bonding, anyway. He still wasn’t quite sure how this whole Lion switch was going to work out. 

\----

“No, Pidge, I _swear_ something scratched me last night!”

The voice sounded like Hunk’s as he and (supposedly) Pidge walked past Keith’s room down the hall. He looked up from a spell he was going over in his Book of Shadows--a finding spell he wanted to use for a specific Black Paladin--when the muffled words reached his ears. Keith shut the book and tucked it under his pillow before following after them.

“Maybe it was the mice?” Pidge offered with a shrug as Keith stepped into the hall. 

“The mice leave my room alone at night,” Hunk insisted. “They know I move around a lot in my sleep and I knocked one of them off the bed once on accident. They’ve avoided it since then. Besides, they like Allura the most.”

“Scratches?” Keith spoke up, a little awkwardly behind them.

Hunk and Pidge turned around at his question.

“Yeah!” Hunk said. He wasted no time in showing off the thin, angry and red welts running down one arm. “Happened last night. I don’t know what it was.”

“Mice,” Pidge said again. “That’s the only possibility.”

Keith looked at the marks on Hunk’s arm, and then at one of the mice in question--the blue one--as it nestled in Pidge’s hair where it shook its head in denial. 

Allura’s space mouse was right. 

But Keith didn’t want to scare them (or annoy them, at least in Pidge’s case) with what he thought the culprit was. So he made the best “I don’t know” sound he could and shrugged his shoulders. 

“That’s strange,” was what Keith said. “Tell me if it happens again. And, uh… be careful.” 

And then he turned around to head for the kitchen, leaving two very confused Paladins behind him.

\----

Two days later he was mopping the training deck when Lance barged in, chased by a very angry Pidge.

“I told you, I didn’t break it!” Lance yelled, terrified as he tried to hide behind the closest object he could. This, unfortunately, was Keith.

“How else do you think the model just _fell on the ground_ when it was in the center of the table?!” 

Pidge was furious, a venomous little green monster as she cradled the broken remains of some sort of tech in her hands. 

“How was I supposed to know?” Lance cried as he cowered (and ignored Keith’s attempts to be heard.) “I was on the other side of the room!”

“Guys,” Keith tried.

“Things don’t just fall by themselves!”

“Well, it wasn't me! I bet it had something to do with Keith--”

“ _Guys,_ ” Keith tried again, his voice bordering on a yell. 

“He didn’t have anything to do with it, and you know it!”

“It still wasn’t me--”

“ _WILL BOTH OF YOU JUST BE QUIET?_ ”

Keith’s words made both of them go silent, and the bickering stopped in an instant. While he was glad to have… resolved the fighting so quickly (sort of) he also had to chastise himself a little. A leader didn’t do things like that. Keith still had some things to learn, even though he was doing his best.

But Pidge and Lance stopped screaming at each other nonetheless, and stood around waiting for him to say something else. Lance didn’t move from his hiding spot behind Keith, and Pidge still scowled at him dangerously.

“What happened?” Keith asked when he was sure neither of them would start up the fighting again. 

“Lance--I mean, the prototype I was working on for the Green Lion fell off the table and now it’s ruined,” Pidge said. “I turned around and it fell on the ground. But it was in the _center_ of the table.”

“Pidge thinks I did it,” Lance complained. “But I was on the other side of the room! I was just watching. I think she wants to kill me.”

“I _know_ I do.”

Keith took a deep breath. How did Shiro manage all of this?

“How is it possible for the prototype to fall off the table if it isn’t on the edge?” he asked eventually. 

“I don’t know,” Lance complained. “Maybe this castle is haunted again.”

“Ghosts don’t exist, Lance!”

Keith thought about telling her otherwise as they argued again, this time over the existence of the supernatural, and he decided it wasn’t worth the time to break it up. They left the training deck still debating, and the main issue at hand far from resolved.

\----

The next time something unusual happened, it was when they were all spending some down time in the lounge, lazing around on the couch. There was a film projected on the screen; something strange and apparently an Altean classic. It must have been popular ten thousand years ago, because it had Coran sobbing and even Allura was dabbing at her eyes with her sleeve.

Keith, for one, didn’t understand it at all. Neither did the other Paladins, though. So at least Keith wasn’t the only one out of the loop this time.

They were in the middle of a dramatic battle scene; the Altean equivalent of rain fell from the sky, huge rocks that the actors had to dodge while they went at each other viciously with cool space swords. Keith was wondering if they were _actual _rocks or if it was staged when he felt himself go cold.__

__Freezing cold. Ice cold. It wasn’t the normal type of chill; this felt like it was coming from _inside_ himself, leeching all the warmth out of his body. He recognized it almost immediately._ _

__The others seemed to notice it too, although he doubted they recognized it as the presence of the spirit._ _

__Pidge curled in on herself, drawing her knees up to her chest as she tried to hide herself in the cushions of the couch. Hunk shivered, and Lance pulled his jacket closed a little tighter._ _

__“Who turned up the air conditioning?” Hunk asked, looking around for the mystery culprit._ _

__“No one, of course,” Coran stated, with his arms wrapped around his sides. “The castle adjusts its temperature automatically as it’s needed.”_ _

__“Then your castle is broken again,” Lance complained._ _

__Keith looked around the room, crossing his arms over his chest to try and keep warm. There was no sign of the new Shadow Person, but Keith knew that just because he couldn't see it didn't mean it wasn't there. Cold spots were easy enough to recognize._ _

__And then as soon as it appeared, the unnatural chill was gone. Warmth flooded into the room again as the Shadow Person left, and the others spent the next few minutes trying to discuss what might have been wrong with the Altean technology. Lance recalled the corrupted Balmeran crystal that they had to deal with what felt like oh-so long ago. The Blue Paladin never realized he got the closest to the truth._ _

__Eventually the others settled back in to watch the movie. But every once in awhile he caught them looking around, just a little apprehensive, like they were waiting for the temperature to drop again._ _

__\----_ _

__When the hologram display Allura was using to lay out their plan for an attack went dark, Keith finally had to give in and admit that something needed to be done._ _

__The other Shadow guest he had back on Earth _never_ did anything like this. Hell, the worst it got was a slight startle if Keith hadn’t seen it for a while. Maybe cold spots on a rare occasion. _ _

__It was the third time in a row Hunk came to him with scratches on his arm. Pidge’s things were breaking at a rate faster than she could repair them, and constant fixing meant she didn’t have time to focus on finishing her projects. Lance complained about being cold all the time, and more than once Keith found him striding down the hall with a blanket around his shoulders like some sort of ridiculous cloak. And now the castle was beginning to malfunction?_ _

__Not on Keith’s watch. Malevolent entities would find no place within or around his team. He was the Black Paladin now._ _

__But first things first; where did the Shadow Person come from? One of them had to pick it up somewhere, considering it just appeared out of the blue. It was possible Voltron’s quintessence and energy attracted it, but Keith guessed that if this were the source it would have happened a long time ago. And there were no records of it being an issue before Zarkon._ _

__It was time for Keith to do some searching._ _

__With no leads to go on, he decided to do it the only way he could think of; comb room after room until he uncovered something that caught his eye. It wasn't a simple plan by any means. And it would take ages. Something more serious might happen before Keith even found anything. But did he really have a choice?_ _

__So Keith got to work first thing in the morning. He left the other Paladins and Coran to their training with a “I have something I need to do.” It was a weak excuse, but none of them put up a fight. They probably thought it had something to do with finding Shiro and let him be._ _

__(Keith wished it was about Shiro. That would be a lot better than some ill-intending paranormal ghost.)_ _

__The first room came up empty. And the second. And the third. And the fourth…_ _

__It was a tedious task. He searched through every single chamber he could find, digging through desks and closets and drawers. Anything and everything. He didn’t find any suspicious-looking objects that radiated bad energy. No strange runes stretched into the walls._ _

__Nothing._ _

__But it was only his first day of looking. There were plenty of opportunities for something to show up. Right?_ _

__\----_ _

__Wrong._ _

__Keith slumped over the dining room table, resting his head on his hand and struggling to keep his eyes open. It had been a week and all he had been able to find so far was Pidge’s secret stash of candy tucked away in a mostly forgotten storage closet. Keith left it alone, of course. He wasn’t a monster._ _

__But his determined searching meant he only got a few hours of sleep each night, and it was beginning to catch up with him. Less than he usually got in the first place. The others seemed to notice, and they watched him warily from their seats like he was about to snap at them. It was probably a smart precaution._ _

__Yawning, Keith jabbed his spoon into the bowl of… something on the table in front of him. It was supposed to be cereal, he thought, but it was spicy and hot instead of sweet._ _

__“You look tired,” Lance said. It was a careful statement, giving Keith the chance to explain his odd actions from the past week if he wanted to._ _

__But Keith didn't want to. He might have been bad at picking up social cues, but there was no way he could ignore the toll the Shadow Person had on them; the strange happenings lead to them all treading with caution. They might not know what was going on, but they understood something wasn't right and were trying their best to keep a lookout for the next incident._ _

__If Keith told them the truth, they would be terrified. Or they wouldn't believe him. He wasn't sure which was worse._ _

__So instead he shrugged, not bothering to look any of them in the eye. “Busy,” was the only answer he gave them._ _

__Lance huffed at that, clearly dissatisfied with his reasoning, but Keith didn’t offer any other explanation._ _

__“You know, keeping secrets from your team can cause you all to break apart,” Coran said helpfully from across the table. “If there’s something that’s bothering you--”_ _

__“ _There’s nothing bothering me,_ ” Keith insisted and he wished it was true. He stood up then, weird space cereal forgotten, and left the dining room in a huff. _ _

__He burned off his anger and frustration that day by searching through more of the castle._ _

__That night the training bot went rogue again, and when they woke up in the morning they found it lying sprawled out like an eagle in the library, sparking and smoking from something inside it that was clearly broken. It had slashed a hole through the wall of the training room to get out, apparently forgetting what doors were._ _

__Thankfully, no one was on the deck this time._ _

__It was a reminder that Keith didn’t have time to be wasting. He had to work harder._ _

__\----_ _

__Nine days into his search, Keith was digging through a box of junk in the scarcely-used rec room when he found something._ _

__It was a board, clearly very cheaply made. The front had the alphabet--the _English_ alphabet, of all things--laid out above the numbers one to zero. The words “YES” and “NO” were sitting at the top of the board, one in the right corner and another in the left. _ _

__Keith felt himself go cold, but it wasn’t because of the Shadow Person this time. He dropped the spirit board as quickly as he could like it held some sort of disease, backing away from it._ _

__Everything made sense now. Well, almost everything. The spirit’s unexpected appearance finally had a reason. But now Keith was left to wonder, _how the quiznak did someone find a spirit board, and what were they thinking, bringing it on the ship?__ _

__Granted, Keith couldn't be too surprised that the unknown culprit didn't know what they were getting themselves into. Most people treated spirit boards like games back on Earth, which was usually what they were marketed as, unfortunate as it was. Keith knew better than to mess with them, but Keith was a witch and a little more knowledged in these types of things._ _

__But where did they even find one of these in space?_ _

__At least Keith was comforted by the thought that his search would be a little easier this time. He sighed tiredly and ran a hand through his hair, eyeing the spirit board with caution. He really didn’t want to touch it again, but alas, it had to be done._ _

__\----_ _

__Using the castle’s handy intercom system, Keith called all the others for an emergency team meeting in the dining room while he quick-walked this way there, carrying the spirit board gingerly in both outstretched hands._ _

___Ugh._ He hated touching it. A cleansing was definitely needed after all of this was over._ _

__Coran and the Paladins were already waiting for him by the time he came through the doors, murmuring anxiously about what the subject of the meeting could be. It was interrupted when he walked in, unceremoniously tossing the board in the table. It clattered a little before going still._ _

__“Anyone care to explain?” Keith asked, gesturing to the thing before all of them._ _

__All of their eyes fell on the board. No one said anything for a while, until Allura leaned forward a little to get a closer look._ _

__“What is this? The markings on it are strange. Are these runes?”_ _

__“It’s English--don’t touch it!” Keith said, stopping Allura as she reached out to place her hand on it. She sat back, probably a little offended at being snapped at._ _

__“I beg your pardon?”_ _

__“It’s a spirit board. It helps people… use them back on Earth. To communicate with the dead. At least, that’s what people think it’s _supposed_ to do.”_ _

__It wasn’t Keith that spoke this time._ _

__Turning his head, he spotted Pidge sitting uncomfortably in her seat. “I just wanted to see if it would work. You know. An experiment. But nothing happened because _ghosts don’t exist._ I just wanted to prove my point. It was junk and I threw it away. _ _

__Keith sighed; it _did_ work, obviously, because now he had decapheebs of work to do. _ _

__“You didn’t notice the weird things going on?” He asked. “The cold spots? The--”_ _

__“I noticed them, but that doesn’t mean they were because of some sort of ghost. Ghosts don’t exist. The dumb board proves that,” Pidg argued._ _

__Keith hated it when people argued with him. Especially when he knew he was right._ _

__“You let something in and we need to get rid of it,” he barreled on, speaking over her words. “Spirit boards are like doors, and you probably didn’t even close the session like you’re supposed to. If you’re curious next time find me and I’ll show you how to use a pendulum. Just--if I find another one of these again I’m throwing whoever’s responsible for it out of the airlock.”_ _

__Lance shivered, and then pushed away from the table and stood. “Nope. No way. I’m not doing that again. Keith is the witchy one, I vote we leave him to talk to the dead people next time.”_ _

__“This is why I’ve been getting those scratches?” Hunk asked. “It wasn't the mice?”_ _

__Keith shook his head. “Whatever the board let in is the one behind all the strange things that’ve been happening.”_ _

__Under her breath, Pidge grumbled something and crossed her arms._ _

__Keith picked the board up again, holding it by just the tips of his fingers._ _

__“We’re just lucky nothing worse has happened. Try not to do it again.”_ _

__It was a flat-out command, and Keith hated the way it sounded, but he didn’t know what else to say to get his point across. The others all looked abashed, and Keith felt a little bit guilty as he took the cursed thing out of the dining room lest it contaminate anything else._ _

__\----_ _

__Keith had never used a spirit board before, of course. And therefore had also never found himself in a situation where he had to get rid of one. But there was a first time for everything, he supposed._ _

__First he broke the board into seven pieces. He read somewhere, maybe online a long time ago, that this was what you were supposed to do. And besides, seven was always a good number anyway._ _

__But after that Keith was at a little bit of a loss. He was sure that wasn't going to be enough. Besides, the board was _still there._ _ _

__So Keith shrugged, and then he went to go dig around in the kitchen some more before returning with a box of what looked like Altean matches. (He found them shoved in a drawer with a much of other things. Apparently even aliens had junk drawers.)_ _

__Keith dropped the board pieces into his trash can without much finesse. Then for good measure he dug through his alarmingly thin supplies of herbs and added a few leaves of sage, which he was convinced was about the equivalent of duct tape when it came to witchcraft. It was hard to go wrong with it when it was a cleanser._ _

__Was Keith supposed to say some sort of incantation?_ _

__Maybe._ _

__Keith thought about it for a little, lit a match, and set the board and the herbs on fire._ _

__“Fuck off,” he added for good measure. There. That would be his incantation. He never was very good at those anyway._ _

__He watched the fire until it turned the contents to nothing but ash. Then he dumped it in the incinerator, put the trash can back, and went to go find the others again. It was done, simple and easy. That wasn’t too difficult._ _

__The first part, anyway. Just because the board was gone didn’t mean that everything was done, though. The Shadow Person was still hanging around somewhere in the Castle of Lions._ _

__Keith’s next (and final) goal was to get rid of it. Thankfully he knew how to do this step._ _

__\----_ _

__Sage was used again. This time it was in a dried bundle, kept together with lengths of string._ _

__Keith used to sage the shack back on Earth all the time. He did it if he was stressed, or feeling down, or if it just hadn’t been done in a while._ _

__Using another match, he lit the already blackened end of the bundle. Smoke rose, and Keith let the sage burn for a little to get some good embers going before he gently blew it out. You didn’t want to use actual flame for sageing; just the smoke would be enough._ _

__With that done, Keith got to work. It was going to be a long process with the Castle so huge._ _

__One room at a time, just like when he was digging through everything before, Keith cleansed the place. He went around the edges of each room, over the doorways and beds if there were any. In an ordinary situation he would go over windows too, but most of the rooms lacked any, given that they were in space._ _

__When that was done he went back to the doorway and used the smoke to draw a pentagram in the air. He wasn't sure if this would do anything, but it felt right._ _

__“Um…” Keith hesitated. Talking in an empty room always made him feel uncomfortable and awkward; like he said, incantations were not his forte._ _

__“...Listen. You’re, uh, kinda freaking everyone out. And we have lots of stuff we need to work on. Like saving the universe? So… if you could just… leave now, that would be great. Thanks.”_ _

__Keith repeated the process, sometimes saying some variation of that little speech and sometimes not. He went through each room, drew pentagrams in the air, and then moved on. It took a long time, but not nearly as much as the searching process did before. He was done by the end of the day, and then Keith put the embers out and dropped down on his bed._ _

__The entire Castle smelled like sage, and there was no doubt the rest of the team was probably unhappy about it. But Keith always thought it was comforting, so he threw the blanket over himself and decided that a nap was more than earned. He fell asleep much easier than he had in a long time._ _

__\----_ _

__Two days later something pushed Keith out of the elevator when he was trying to leave it._ _

__And by push, he meant “shoved him hard enough to send him sprawled on the ground like an idiot.”_ _

__Out of reflex, Keith turned around to tell the offender off, despite being the only one who was in the elevator at the time. He froze with his mouth still hanging open when the elevator was still empty behind him. The doors slid shut, leaving him alone in the hall with… whatever had pushed him._ _

___I used sage. I got rid of the board. Why is it still here?_ _ _

__“Hello?” Keith asked, awkwardly when he was the only one around. Nothing responded; or at least if it did he couldn't hear._ _

__He sighed when the silence persisted. Of course it couldn't be easy. Nothing was ever easy when it came to him._ _

__Everyone else was in the lounge when Keith walked in._ _

__“I swear,” Lance was in the middle of saying, “This place is, like, a _thousand_ times colder.”_ _

__As if for emphasis Lance wrapped his jacket all the way around himself and lifted the hood up over his head._ _

__“That’s impossible,” Pidge responded. “If it was a thousand degrees colder we’d all be dead.”_ _

__“Oh, ha ha. Very funny, Pigeon. You know what I mean,” Lance replied._ _

__“Do I? I don’t think--”_ _

__“What’s going on?” Keith interrupted. It seemed to be a habit as of late._ _

__“You aren’t a very good ghost terminator,” Lance complained._ _

__Keith only lifted one eyebrow in reply, a silent invitation for him to go on. Had the others noticed it as well?_ _

__“This whole place is like ice,” Lance went on. “Aren’t you cold, too? It’s worse than the cryo-pod.”_ _

__Shrugging his red jacket off, Keith held out his hand with the palm up. The temperature didn't seem any different to him, and he had no clue what Lance was going on about._ _

__But then he remembered he had been pushed to the ground less than ten minutes before. His hands still stung from the landing._ _

__“You’re a quiznaking awful witch, Keith. You should just stick to brooding and being a pilot.”_ _

__That was Pidge this time, giving him a look with her arms crossed over her chest. How could someone so small be so sarcastic?_ _

__Keith huffed and rolled his eyes. “I’ll keep it in mind, thanks. Tell me if anything else weird happens.”_ _

__He left them to argue again with Pidge saying “I still don’t believe in ghosts--” when the door shut behind him. Keith couldn't help but cast a glance down both ends of the hall, and sure enough, he was alone._ _

__A feeling of anxiety--the familiar, nervous churning in the pit of his stomach that made him feel physically ill--started up. Keith hadn't felt that since Shiro first went missing, and it never meant anything good. Whatever Keith did before to get rid of the board, it wasn’t enough. And now it was angry. He had to think of something else._ _

__\----_ _

__“Just fucking _leave,_ ” Keith cursed, throwing salt._ _

__Literally throwing. He found a container of it in the kitchen an hour ago and got to work immediately, tossing handfuls into every room. Keith was getting awfully familiar with the layout of the castle now._ _

__The salt was supposed to be thrown in areas that were the most affected by the paranormal, but Keith didn't really know where that was, except the rarely-used rec room, and he planned to throw as much as he could in there. So his plan was to just “get all of it” with “it” meaning the Castle of Lions._ _

__“Seriously,” Keith huffed as he tossed some in the hallway. “I tried to be _nice._ And _diplomatic,_ like everyone said I need to be now. But did you listen? No! So now you get the goddamn salt. You can’t blame anyone except for yourself.”_ _

__The rec room was next, and there was a chill in the air Keith could feel within a second of stepping inside._ _

__The Shadow Person was here._ _

__It hovered in the back corner; Keith couldn’t see it, exactly, but he could feel it there. And it wasn’t happy with the salt, or the sageing from earlier._ _

__Keith poured some of the salt crystals into his hand and tossed them in the Shadow Person’s direction without any hesitation._ _

__“Get out,” he said._ _

__The room grew colder. A data pad that Hunk was using a few days ago fell onto the ground on the other side of the room._ _

__“Don’t be like that,” Keith snapped. “ _You_ chose to stay. I don’t have time for ghosts.”_ _

__He threw another handful of salt, and the thing _growled.__ _

__Now Keith was angry._ _

__“You are not welcome here. There is no place for you anywhere in this castle. You will leave, now. You will not come back, and you will not bother anyone else.”_ _

__It was a demand, firm and unyielding, and it made Keith feel a little strange to be speaking so sternly. Like something out of a storybook, or a cheesy fantasy movie. Keith the Red, some sort of powerful Tolkien ~~wizard~~ witch. _ _

__But as ridiculous as it was, his command seemed to work. The black mass in the corner wavered, just a slight movement from the dark corner. Keith took a step forward and the salt crunched quietly under his foot. He threw another handful in the corner._ _

__“Go. You will not stay. _Leave,_ now.”_ _

__He felt something cold rush through him, like the blast of icy air when a freezer was opened, and then the Shadow Person was gone. The temperature warmed to what it should be. In the corner, the dark of the room wasn’t quite so sinister.The anxiety sitting in Keith’s stomach was gone, and he couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief._ _

__It was all over. _Finally._ Who knew how powerful a couple of angry commands could be?_ _

__Complaints started up down the hall and could be heard from the other side of the closed doors._ _

__“What is on the ground?” That was Allura._ _

__“It’s _everywhere._ Lance, if you--”_ _

__“How could I have done this, Hunk?! Honestly, the fact that you think I did it wounds me. I bet it was Keith.”_ _

__At the sound of his name, Keith almost stepped out of the room._ _

___But I’m the one that just saved them from potential possession,_ he thought. _And Pidge started it all, anyway. All of them can clean it up.__ _

__He managed to annoy them a second time later that night when he dug up the bundle of sage again, insisting on going through the entire castle a fourth time. He made sure to wave the smoke over them, too, just to be safe. Even if they whined about “smelling like weed” for a couple of hours._ _

__“That isn’t what weed smells like, Pidge.”_ _

__“Oh! Well, how do you know then, huh?”_ _

__Keith sighed. Things were back to normal again, or at least normal enough. Who knew there could be benefits for being a witch in space?_ _

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Halloween, guys!
> 
> I took a short break on Tides to write this for Halloween. It's being posted early because I'm going to be working like crazy through the end of the month. 
> 
> Enjoy some witchy Keith. I started writing this because the thought of Keith yelling at some ghost was rather amusing, and I thought it would be kinda fitting for the 31st. 
> 
> (Don't mess with spirit boards!!)


End file.
